“We are proud of what we have done,” Donnarumma said. “Mario is accustomed to different movements, so we communicate a lot on our movements off the ball. Playing alongside him is an honour for me and I hope we can do a lot of things from now on.”

It was Juve’s fourth win in the opening five matches and was achieved without Cristiano Ronaldo, who was rested with a slight muscular injury.

Balotelli was signed by hometown club Brescia in the off-season on a free transfer but was suspended for the first four matches following a red card in his final match for Marseille.

“He arrived with the right motivation,” Brescia coach Eugenio Corini said. “He is working hard, he is an extraordinary player who I am sure will give us a big hand. It’s being close to home that is good for him, I see him relaxed and fully involved in the team.”

Balotelli was named in the starting line-up against Juventus, playing his first match in Italy since a disappointing season-long loan at AC Milan ended in 2016.

But it was teammate Donnarumma who gave Brescia the lead in the fourth minute with a powerful shot which bent back Wojciech Szczesny’s gloves.

Juventus levelled shortly before the break when a corner from the right was bundled into his own net by Chancellor.

Balotelli had chances either side of that goal with a pair of free-kicks, but Szczesny fingertipped one over the bar and the other went past the post.

Juventus scored what was to prove the winner shortly after the hour. Paulo Dybala sent a free-kick into the wall but Pjanic fired the rebound into the bottom left corner.

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